Young Writers Society

"Did you also fall?" Vee turned to look at the newly introduced Forest, who defintely seemed to be too young to be out here by herself, but they themself didn't feel old enough to be on their own currently.

"The plants seem to be harmless, I think, so that's good, right?" They said, finally standing up again from the half crouch they usually found their body in. "Although there's not much else we can really gather from here, I don't think."

Edward blinked at Forest's response to his greeting. He hadn't meant to come across as intimidating. But he must have, right? Why else would she say something like that after he just said hi?

Edward stared down at his outfit as she introduced herself. He had already been feeling out-of-place before meeting Forest, but he felt even more out-of-place now that an eleven year old thought he was a threat. He didn't even look that muscular or tall.

He looked back up.

Vee's comment brought him back to the moment. He had to focus on whatever this place was and how they were going to get out of it.

"Maybe we should look through this cavern more," Edward said. "I still feel that pull - I think it might be coming from..."

He mulled it over, trying to pinpoint the right direction.

Then he raised a finger and pointed past the edge of the miniature cliff they were currently standing on. It looked almost like there was some kind of worn path heading in that direction.

"There," he finished.

The moment ‘Vee’ said the plants looked harmless, Forest spun around in surprise. “No! Definitely not! They are really dangerous, you could be landing yourself into some serious trouble!” Forest had exclaimed. She calmed down after a few seconds. She closed her eyes and sighed. A flash of forgotten memory raced through her closed eyes. A baby. A mother. A long lost lover. A threat. Forest shook her head, sweating, trying to remove the image from her mind. She glanced at the group, most people didn’t notice that. Except for..... that Hester. She though Hester might try and talk to her about this, but Edward saved her by wondering aloud about something she didn’t hear. Her stomach growled. She looked around. The fruits tempted her, but she wasn’t a fool, she wouldn’t eat any of them.

Hester could see the child called Forest was shaking. This girl wasn't her daughter, but she couldn't help but feel responsible for her. The rest of the group were only teenagers, with the exception of Vee, who didn't seem much younger than she was. They couldn't really be expected to take responsibility. She wasn't sure how Forest would take it if she tried to comfort her, though. The girl seemed overly hostile toward any tenderness. For now, Hester resolved to let it be. It wasn't really her place to parent a kid who didn't want to be parented. A pang shot through her heart as she thought of her own son, probably wondering when his mama would be home from the witch's cottage.

As the whole crowd turned towards the worn out path Edward showed, Forest wondered what this was all about. Suddenly, the annoying pull she had been feeling for some time, increased. She tried to ignore it the best she could. It was an uncomfortable feeling. “That pull. It’s coming from there. Maybe we’ll find something there?” Edward asked. Forest’s ears suddenly curled like those of cats. They fell down too? And they felt the strange pull? Maybe she could find out more if she stayed with them. Her stomach growled again. “Hey! Has anyone got some food here?” She asked loudly.

Annabeth offered a kind smile and a wave to the girl then turned to the path.

"The pull's getting stronger," she said, stepping up beside Edward. "Maybe you're right. Whatever's at the end of the path should hopefully have some answers" -Annabeth glanced at Forest- "and maybe some food."

With a sigh, she squared her shoulders. "I can't tell if it's getting dark, but we should probably get going before we all get tired."

Vee walked away from the plants, unsure if they should accept Forest's declaration or observe more before really making a decision. Nothing had attacked them so far -- maybe it was safe to assume that at least this part of wherever their group had landed wasn't a dangerous one.

"We've been here at least for a few minutes yea," Vee agreed with Annabeth. "I mean, I was walking home after my shift, so that was probably around 4:30 when I got stuck here. Might as well head out more, right?"

Forest returned the kind smile from the girl who introduced herself as Annabeth. She decided she rather liked Annabeth’s sense of fashion. She looked at Edward. He was still looking a bit uncertain and confused. She wondered if he had ever been clear about something. Wasn’t it obvious that they had been abducted by evil fairies or mad scientists? “Well, what are we all waiting for? Let’s go!” Forest said with a confident smile, taking the first few steps of the path. Everything was going to be alright.

Edward couldn't remember the last time he had been with someone as young as Forest. He also couldn't remember the last time that he had spent a long period of time with other people outside of school or home. It wasn't that he disliked being with other people; it wasn't all that bad. Everyone here just seemed so different than what he was used to. He had absolutely no idea why. He didn't even know why he was here just yet.

The group walked through the cavern together.

Edward hoped his mom was okay. She was strong and independent, but to lose him after losing his dad years ago...

He pushed the thought away.

No, he was not going to go there. He'd get out of whatever this was alright and in no time at all. His mom wouldn't have to worry about a missing son on top of all of the other things they had to worry about these days.

Forest was the one who had taken the first steps, but Edward quickly found himself taking the lead - likely because he had longer legs. By the time he had completely pulled ahead of her by a good foot, the path they were walking on had become more defined. The strange, glowing plants and rocks were still the same, but this part of the cave felt different.

It felt...lived in.

He quickly found out why.

There was sudden a shift in the path; a turn to the left that went right around one of the bigger glowing plants. When he made the turn, Edward came to an immediate, panicked stop.

There was a town.

It wasn't like the towns he was used to. The buildings were made of rock that seemed to be part of the stone he was walking on - he couldn't even see a break between the floor and the closest buildings. There were people moving about, too. Their clothes were colorful and softly glowed. But that wasn't what Edward was really focused on. He was more concerned with the people themselves - and how they had skin so pale that it looked white. When he squinted, they didn't even really seem like people as he knew them. They had the same general shape, but the proportions were all off, too. It was like someone had stretched out their entire bodies so they had extremely long and thin limbs.

Edward stumbled back.

(The pull, of course, was coming from right inside the town. Edward really hated his luck today.)

Third in line in their ragtag group, Annabeth followed Edward as he lead them through the cavern.

It felt like a fairytale almost as the plants softly glowed. For a moment, Annabeth imagined herself in a situation similar to Alice in Wonderland. Then, Edward stopped short, and she was pulled back to reality.

"What's wrong?" she asked out of habit. When he didn't answer, she looked for herself...

And saw a town.

It looked like a town out of one of those fantasy shows with the rocky buildings and the unearthly people.

The pull was stronger now, and she knew they would have to go into town. Edward, however, did not look like he was going to enjoy it. Annabeth couldn't blame him, though. Those 'people' looked unnerving.

She sighed. "Let's get this over with," she said. "The sooner we find answers, the sooner we can go home."

Annabeth took a step forward.

Hester hung back slightly, deeply unnerved by the appearance of the people in this town. She had seen a few faeries in her life, and these could very well be a strain not native to her area. Either way, something as eerie as this couldn't possibly be good.
"Are we sure they're safe?" she asked warily. "They look....wrong."

Vee grimaced at the sight of the town.

"They definitely don't look right, but I don't think we can fight the pull for right now," they said, feeling even more nervous than they thought possible.

"We probably should just stick together and not be separated. We're strangers, but at least we're not stretched out stick people, right?"

Forest’s first thought when she looked at the strange village which seemed to be carved out of stones was: “FOOD!”
Forest’s second thought at the sight of the strange, almost fairytale looking town was: “FOOD!”
But then, Forest realised the pull seemed stronger while she was near the village. And this observation supplied her third thought: “I’ll probably find some answers there too. BUT FOOD!”
And so, without a second thought about her companions, she marched forward, in search of food.
It wasn’t like those ghost looking, glowing and differently proportioned people were going to hurt her, were they?

Nah.

Edward's eyes widened when Forest suddenly marched ahead.

Vee and Annabeth's reasoning almost convinced him, but it was Forest's sudden march past Annabeth that made him push past the doubt and worry he shared with Hester. He was far more concerned about something happening to Forest right away.

He rushed after her.

"Forest, wait-" he started to say, reaching a hand out to grab onto her shoulder.

But then someone on the edge of town saw them.

Even though the boy staring at them was tall and stretched out like everyone else, he seemed young. His eyes were wide and innocent; his jaw dropped in what had to be childish shock. Edward couldn't shake the feeling that he was younger than Forest was.

The boy suddenly went running back in the town. The others closest to them glanced at each other - and at the group - before following the boy's example.

Edward drew his hand back.

The other kids had looked afraid, but the boy hadn't.

He had looked excited.

Exchanging a glance with the others, Annabeth quickly followed Edward and Forest. Edward had almost reached the girl when a small group of boys spotted them. Annabeth froze, standing comically on one foot, but she didn't dare move.

The boy gaped at them for a moment before running back to the town, and the others followed.

Understandable, she guessed. Some children are often shy of strangers, but she felt a little wary when she saw the look on the kid's face.

When Vee and Hester caught up, Annabeth twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

"You all caught the look on that kid's face, right?" she asked. "It's strange how excited he look compared to his friends."